Reigning champions Leicester City were in deep trouble. Gone were the blitzkrieg counter-attacks started by N’Golo Kante, transitioned by Riyad Mahrez and finished off by Jamie Vardy. In their place were an error-prone defense made worse by the absence of injured goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, a midfield desperately lacking Kante’s steel since he was sold to Chelsea over the summer and an attack struggling to mesh with lumbering $38 million signing Islam Slimani.

The new-look Leicester had gone winless in their last five Premier League games, sat just two points above the relegation places, and things looked set to go from bad to worse with Manchester City coming to town Saturday.

But conventional Premier League wisdom went out the window just three minutes in. Center back Robert Huth hoofed a header forward that Mahrez delicately controlled for Slimani, who threaded the ball through for Vardy to slam home. Two minutes later, Slimani was at it again, laying a Christian Fuchs long throw off to Andy King, who rocketed a shot into the top corner.

King Power Stadium was rocking, and the two early goals forced Guardiola to double down on a tactical plan that played right into Leicester’s hands. The Foxes don’t just feast on turnovers, they are the team’s lifeblood. To beat them, opponents have figured out they have to play like soccer’s version of the Kansas City Chiefs: hog possession, avoid risks and cut off space to Mahrez and Vardy so they can’t make big plays.

Guardiola set up his team to do all three things, but being so far behind after five minutes forced City into pressing the action more than any Leicester opponent should. City’s impatience was on full display in the 20th minute when left wingback turned central defender Aleksandar Kolarov picked up the ball, dribbled forward and tried to force a pass that was easily intercepted. The ball found its way to Fuchs, who took a touch, looked up and launched a laser to Mahrez drifting into the gaping space that Kolarov had vacated. One silky touch from the Algerian and Vardy was again in on goal. He rounded City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and slotted home for a 3-0 lead. The game was effectively over, and it was definitively put to bed late in the second half when Vardy latched onto a lax John Stones backpass, rounded Bravo again and finished beautifully from an extremely tight angle to get his hat trick.

City pulled two goals back to give the game a semi-respectable 4-2 scoreline, but there was no way to hide Guardiola’s stubborn tactical naivete. At Bayern Munich and Barcelona, Guardiola took what were effectively all-star teams and turned them into nearly unbeatable juggernauts with a coaching philosophy that prized possession above all else. Manchester City, however, is not an all-star team, and on Saturday were without Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho, arguably their two most important players, due to suspension. Former Barcelona man Bravo has yet to get used to the Premier League. With such huge holes down the spine, you could understand if Guardiola reined his team in. He didn’t, and City paid the price.

The problem for Leicester is the result provided no evidence they’ve figured out their long-term problems. They still have a Konte-sized hole in the middle of the field, Schmeichel is still out with a broken hand and Mahrez and Vardy still haven’t proved they can generate goals when teams specifically set out to stop them.

Schmeichel should be back in January and the winter transfer window provides an opportunity for the club to get a replacement for Kante, but Leicester’s Premier League season is toast. They’re too good to be relegated and too far down to challenge for the top four, so the best that last season’s Cinderella can hope for is a magical run in the Champions League and mid-table safety. — M.B.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan gives Manchester United the spark they need

After weeks of progress with little to show for it, Manchester United finally got the big win they’ve been desperately been searching for when they beat Tottenham 1-0 on Sunday. And the man most responsible was none other than Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the lights-out attacking midfielder who’s somehow been unable to nail down a starting spot since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

In only his third league start, the Armenian gave the Red Devils a touch of class and inspiration that’s been glaringly absent. This was never more clear than in the 29th minute, when he ran onto a perfectly weighted pass from Ander Herrera. The ball put Mkhitaryan clean on Hugo Lloris’s goal and he took advantage of the opportunity, powering a shot past the keeper for the game’s only goal. But that was far from his only contribution: He showed impeccable vision to find his teammates in space and set off on numerous mazy runs that were just as important to his defensive effort as a perfectly timed tackle.

It was the kind of performance that makes the midfielder’s absence from United’s starting 11 — and frequently the bench — that much more puzzling. Despite looking more fluid and recording more shots on goal than they did under Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho’s team has been lacking when it counts. But on Sunday, Mkhitaryan, last year’s Bundesliga player of the year, always made the right move. And even someone as stubborn as the Portuguese manager knows it’s an ingredient his team needs.

Which made it all the more painful to see Mkhitarayan stretchered off with his leg in an air cast late in the game. It sounds as if he’ll be back from the ankle injury in just two weeks, though. Mourinho’s side is far from a finished product, but Mkhitaryan gets them closer than anyone else. — B.H.

Goal of the Week

It’d be wrong to categorize Burnley as anything other than a defense-first squad, but that doesn’t mean they can’t score some goals. And during Saturday’s 3-2 win over Bournemouth, Jeff Hendrick scored an instinctual stunner sure to be among the season’s best goals. The Irish midfielder kicked his leg out like a Rockette to deaden ball, took a touch with his knee, then expertly looped it over the keeper to open the scoring.

Miscue of the Week

There’s little doubt Manchester City’s John Stones has the talent to become a great center back, but as he’s shown several times this season, he’s not there yet. The main reason why: He’s still prone to forget where he is, which has led to some genuine howlers. He committed another in the 78th minute of Saturday’s 4-2 loss to Leicester City (1:54 mark), hitting a clumsy and slow — so slow! — backpass that never made it to Claudio Bravo because Jamie Vardy dipped to intercept it before scoring from an impossibly acute angle. The Foxes already were up 3-0 at that point, so the game was virtually over, all the more reason for Stones to have had his head in the game.

Post’s Premier League Rankings

Goals, goals, and more goals. Seven teams bagged three or more in a week when Chelsea and Arsenal pulled away at the top, Everton continued to tumble and West Ham showed they might not be dead quite yet.